There has been a lot of Sunderland fans debating whether Advocaat is the right man for the job, and it’s hard to know. Advocaat came into Sunderland on a short-term contract at the business end of last season and guided the team to Premier League safety.
Sunderland currently sit bottom of the League table, with no wins from their first 7 games. To make matters worse, a win in our next game wouldn’t even get The Black Cats out of the relegation zone. Pressure is building on Advocaat with the players he’s signed not performing up to the standards that we thought they were capable of, but who’s to blame really?
Year after year, Sunderland have got themselves in a terrible situation, with relegation looking not only likely but a certainty. But somehow, sacking the manager and getting someone new with only a few games left seems to actually work. But no Black Cat fan wants to see the club turn into a club that keeps a manager for a year at the most, then sacks them when things turn sour.
When Advocaat arrived on Wearside, he was stuck with the players that were currently there and did extremely well to ensure Sunderland’s survival. But now that he has had the chance to bring in his own players, things are just not working. The only real new signing that is playing well is M’Vila, and Borini is typically trying his absolute hardest, but the majority of the others do not even seem bothered. Lens is good going forward but is not bothered about defending, as is Toivonen. In defence, Kaboul and Coates have looked terrible mainly, but Frenchman Kaboul does seem to be improving slightly.
Looking at the players, anybody could tell that there seems to be a very slight amount of passion, barring the very few exceptions. Surely it’s time for Ellis Short and his board to realise that there isn’t a problem with the managers, but the players. The Sunderland players haven’t performed well over the last few years, except for when it was nearly confirmed that they would be a Championship side the following season.
Poyet did well for the end of the season he was there, then things went bad. Di Canio did the same thing also, and now it seems like Advocaat is going in the same direction. The board need a closer look at the players, as it seems that passion in the changing room is at a low point. Things need to change, sooner rather than later, but Sunderland cannot turn into the team that just sack their managers time and time again.
